Artist Ridge - Huntoon Point

This spectacular, short trail gets lots of love during its short hiking season. Accessible for less than three months each year, hordes of hikers and tourists take to it as the snow finally begins to melt. This is a fragile ecosystem, marked by old and distorted trees, the first blooms from heather in August and numerous bare spots and extra "social" trails that snake off from the main trail. 

The saying goes that alpine plants "grow by the inch and die by the foot." And that is obvious on the Artist's Ridge trail. If you hike to Huntoon Point, please stay on the graveled trail. The views don't get much better from elsewhere, and the hike is so short that there is no need to take a shortcut on the way back. In addition, dogs should be leashed.

Even in late summer, it may be quite snowy at the Artist Point parking lot. But the trail often melts out before the area around the lot, so hike over to the ridge (to the right of the restrooms) to see if the trail is accessible and head off to the left toward Mount Shuksan.

There is never a dull view on this hike, with Shuksan and Baker dominating, but also providing panoramas of American Border Peak, Mount Larrabee, Goat Mountain and more to the north, and even a peak of Mount Stuart to the south. But don't forget to look at the little things. Cold, glacial tarns dot this landscape - a delight for photographers. Tenacious flowers poke their buds out for a brief glimpse of late summer. And gnarled trees and stumps provide testament to the vast amount of snow the ridge gets every year.

There is little solitude on a sunny day here, but hikers arriving early in the morning or in the evening will find the fewest people and the best sunlight for photos.